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You May Need to Change Your Will: Important Updates to New Brunswick's Wills Act

Published:

July 9, 2026

Author(s):

• Eric Lecompte

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Revisions to New Brunswick’s Wills Act could mean that your will requires an update. The government of New Brunswick has amended the Wills Act in Bill 13, and as of June 12, 2026, they have implemented amendments to the Probate Court Act. 

The amended Wills Act will apply to anyone who dies on or after the date that Bill 13 is implemented into the Wills Act, whether their Will has been drafted beforehand or not. At the time of publication, this date is not yet known.

For a better understanding of the changes and what they mean for your estate planning, here are 6 impending changes and 1 implemented change to be aware of.

Impending Changes

1. Legal Age for making a Will 

The Wills Act is lowering the age at which a person may make a Will from 19 to 16, so long as they have the mental capacity to do so. The new age of 16 will come into effect once the amendments are enacted. 

2. Marriage No Longer Revokes a Will

Under the Wills Act in its current form, if an individual had a Will in place prior to becoming married, that Will would be automatically revoked following marriage. Under the amended Wills Act, a marriage subsequent to a Will being made will not revoke the Will unless the Will itself expressly provides for that result.

The change will not apply to Wills made or marriages entered into before the amendments are put into law. Therefore, if you have a Will in place and get married before the amendments are put into force, then that Will will be revoked, and you may need a new one.

3. Changes to treatment of Divorce, Separation, and the Breakdown of a Common-Law Relationship

For anyone ending a marriage or common-law relationship, these amendments could have a significant impact on your Will.  

Under the amended Wills Act, if you were to name your partner as an executor, beneficiary, or had given them power of appointment in the Will, the ending of the relationship through divorce, separation, or breakdown, would serve to revoke that naming. 

Unless the Will expressly states otherwise, the new amendments would make it such that the naming of your former spouse or partner would be revoked, as the Will is interpreted as if your former partner had predeceased you. 

Once in effect, this change would apply to all Wills, even those made before the amendments are implemented in the event of divorce or nullification of marriages.

According to the amended Wills Act, partners are considered to be separated if:

1. At the time of the death of testator, the partners had been living separate and apart as a result of their marriage breakdown for at least the immediately preceding two-year period;
2. Immediately before the testator’s death, they were opposing parties to a divorce proceeding;
3. Immediately before the testator’s death, they were parties to an agreement, a contract, or an order with respect to their property or other issues affecting the couple or family, which agreement, contract or order aimed at separating and finalizing their affairs in recognition of their marriage breakdown; or
4. before the testator’s death, they divided their property in a manner that was intended by them, or appears to have been intended by them, to separate and finalize their affairs in recognition of their marriage breakdown

The amendments will only apply if the two-year separation period described above had commenced on or after the date that the amendments come into effect, or if one of the conditions mentioned above occurs after that date. The same is true for the breakdown of common-law relationships, and the amendments contemplate definition of such.

4. New Limitation Period for Witness-Beneficiary Relief

Under the current Wills Act, a witness to a Will cannot be a beneficiary of the Will. The same applies to a witness’s spouse or common-law partner. If a gift is made to the witness in the Will, that gift is presumed to be invalid, unless an application has been made to validate such a gift.

A successful application would need to establish that the testator intended to give the witness the gift, despite the fact that the witness would be acting in the capacity of a witness. The witness would also need to establish that no undue influence on the testator was exercised.

The amendments to the Wills Act have introduced a limitation period in which a witness to a Will can file an application seeking to validate a gift. Bill 13 notes that such an application must be made within six months from the date of the death of the testator, unless the court orders an extension.

5. Encumbered Property and Debt Allocation

It has been the case that mortgaged land devised in a Will remains primarily liable for the associated mortgage debt. This will still be the case with the amendments, but the amended Wills Act seeks to extend this rule to tangible personal property.

If a gift of real property or tangible personal property is given to you in a Will, and it is encumbered by a security interest, then you will become primarily liable for the payment of the debt that is attributable to the property. This will be the case unless the Will clearly notes a contrary intention that the secured debt is to be addressed otherwise, meaning that the Will must provide clear instruction that either all debts are to be paid by the estate, that the specific secured debt is to be paid by the estate, or a charge of debts on the estate is noted.

This section of the amended Wills Act will only apply to Wills made on or after the date the amendments are enacted.

6. Repealing of 3 Common Law Presumptions

The amended Wills Act seeks to remove three presumptions from Common Law.

The first is that under Common Law, there is a presumption that if you had a child, and that child was named as a beneficiary in your Will, any substantial transfer of property to that child after the Will has been made would be treated by the Court as if you were intending to give them an advancement of their share of the estate. The amended Wills Act notes that this presumption will no longer apply. Moving forward, if the intention of a testator when they transfer property to a child is for it to be an advancement of their share of the estate, that intention must be clearly expressed within the Will or within an amendment to it. 

The second presumption being repealed is, if a testator makes a bequest of money to a creditor in an amount equal to or greater than an owed debt, it is presumed that the testator is intending the bequest to satisfy the debt. Under the amended Wills Act, if it is the testator’s intention that the gift is to satisfy a debt, that needs to be clearly expressed within the Will or in an amendment to it.

The third presumption being repealed is that if a testator, during their lifetime, gives a person who is named in their Will as a beneficiary an amount of money equal to or greater than that which is provided in the Will, then it is presumed that it was the testator’s intention to revoke the gift in the Will.  Under the amended Wills Act this will not be the case, and any such intention would need to be clearly expressed in the Will or in an amendment, otherwise the gift would not affect any bequeathments in the Will. 

Implemented Change

7. Probate Fees

On June 12, 2026, an Act to Amend the Probate Court Act received Royal Assent and came into effect. The most noteworthy amendment of the Probate Court Act is the change to the tax fees associated with the probate of an estate.

The tax fees payable are based on the value of the estate of the deceased.

Under the previous Probate Court Act the fees were:

(a)   $ 25.00 if the estate or part of the estate being administered does not exceed $5,000.

(b)    $50.00 if the estate or part of the estate being administered exceeds $5,000 but not $10,000 

(c)   $75.00 if the estate or part of the estate being administered exceeds $10,000 but not $15,000 

(d)  $100.00 if the estate or part of the estate being administered exceeds $15,000 but not $20,000; and

(e)   $100.00 plus the sum of $5.00 per $1000 or part thereof of the estate being administered if it exceeds $20,000,

 Under the new Probate Court Act the fees are as follows:

(a) $200 if the value of the estate or part of the estate being administered does not exceed $20,000 

(b) $200 plus $5 per each $1,000 in value or part of $1,000 by which the value for the estate exceeds $20,000.00 if the estate exceeds $20,000 but does not exceed $100,000.

(c) $600 plus $15 per $1,000 or part of $1,000 by which the value of the estate exceeds $100,000.

The amendments have implemented a general increase across all estate value thresholds. Below are two examples to show the change in action. 

An estate with a value of $50,000:

Under the old fee system, the fee payable would be $250.00, arising from the flat $100 plus $150 from the amount exceeding $20,000.00. Under the new system, the fee payable would be $350.00, being $200 plus $150. 

An estate with a value of $300,000: 

Under the old fee system, the fee payable would be $1,500. Under the new system, the fee payable would be $4,800.00.

The proposed changes to the Wills Act and confirmed changes to probate fees have made one thing clear: estate planning in New Brunswick is entering a period of meaningful transition, affecting how Wills are drafted, interpreted, and administered. Whether you already have a Will in place or are beginning the planning process, now is an important time to review your estate plan and ensure it continues to reflect your intentions.

If you have any questions regarding the amendments and how they may affect you and your Will, please contact your McInnes Cooper lawyer or any member of our Estates and Trusts Team. 

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